Block Day, November 29 ~ Short Story #3: By the Waters of Babylon

Prefix

• pre - before
• pro - before, in favor of
• psyche - mind, soul
• publicus - people

Root

• endo - within
• plac - please

EQ: Who are you going to write your story for? 

Go over The Masque of the Red Death and Journal 30.

Journal 31

LIT NOTES: Use this website  to add the terms below to your Journal 31.

• First-person point of view (Why don't we talk about second person?)

• Third-person point of view: Limited
• Third-person Point of View: Objective (aka dramatic)
• Third-person Point of View: Omniscient

• Unreliable

EQ: What effect does POV have on the our stories so far? Why would an author use the unreliable pov?

SHORT STORY #31: "By The Waters of Babylon"
by Stephen Vincent Benét 

*This was published in 1937 in The Saturday Evening Post. 

1. To understand what is really happening in this story, you have to draw conclusions based on the writer’s clues and your own experience and knowledge. What do you think John is really seeing (and how are you able to tell) when he describes each of the items below? (You might want to work with a group to solve these puzzles.)

• the Great Burning
• Ou-dis-sun
• the statue of a man named ASHING
• the temple in mid-city with a roof painted like the sky at night
• the caves and tunnels where John thinks the gods kept their slaves

2. Find a place in the story where John achieves a breakthrough, and explain what he discovers.
    How does the first-person point of view help you appreciate his breakthrough?

3. Explain how the words of Psalm 137, verses 1-6, connect with Benét’s story.

• "Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land"
  1 By the rivers of Babylon,
  There we sat down, yea, we wept
  When we remembered Zion.
  ² We hung our harps
  Upon the willows in the midst of it.
  ³ For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
  And those who plundered us requested mirth,
  Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
  ⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song
  In a foreign land?
  ⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
  Let my right hand forget its skill!
  ⁶ If I do not remember you,
  Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
  If I do not exalt Jerusalem
  Above my chief joy.

4. Near the end of the story, John says, “Perhaps in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast.” What do you think he means? Are we “eating knowledge too fast” today? Explain.

5. Benét wrote this story in 1937, before the first atom bomb was invented. World War II and the Cold War are over now. Do Benét’s warnings about the complete destruction of a civilization still have relevance today? Why?

6. Do you think Benét made the secret of the Place of the Gods too easy to guess, or too hard, or were the clues just difficult enough? Explain.

7. What is the narrative perspective of this story?  How does this perspective play a role in the reader's experience and theme of the work?

HW: Complete the reading and Journal 31 (Journal check next week)

*Get ahead by beginning your short story!

Wednesday, November 28 ~ Short Story #2: Masque of the Red Death

Prefixes

• peri - around
• port - carry
• post - after

Roots

• pedo - child
• ped, pod - foot
• grad, gress - step, go

Short Story #2: The Masque of the Red Death 

• EQ: What is allegory?

Journal 30

LIT NOTES ~ Add these definitions to your journals section.

• Symbol
• Allegory

The Text: "The Masque of the Red Death " by Edgar Allan Poe

• Who was Poe? What other works from Poe have you read?

SAT Vocab:

1. profuse - plentiful
2. sagacious - wise
3. voluptuous - characterized with luxury or pleasure
4. contagion - the spreading of disease
5. imperial - majestic
6. emanating - coming forth
7. sedate - calm; quiet
8. pervaded - spread throughout
9. piquancy - a pleasantly sharp or appetizing flavor
10. phantasm - a figment of the imagination; an illusion
11. cessation - ceasing or stopping
12. disapprobation - strong disapproval, usually on moral grounds
13. propriety - quality of being proper
14. tangible - something that can be touched
15. impetuosity - impulsive or rash 

Analysis:

1. The rich and powerful might build walls around their sprawling estates to block out the upsetting parts of life. What realities of life must people face no matter who they are?

2. Google search: What are the symptoms of the pneumonic plague?

3. Consider the Allegory feature. Define as many symbols as you can, bullet-point style. What is the "story below the surface" if you translate each symbol? (Include at least these: Prince Prospero, the abbey, the gate, the masquerade, the ebony clock and TIME, the winding hallway, all the different colors of rooms, & the intruder)

HW: Complete the story and Journal 30. Don't look up the answers to the allegory!!!

Tuesday, November 27 ~ Two Kinds

Prefixes

• meter - measure
• micro - small
• mono - one, single

Suffixes

• hood - order, condition, quality
• phil - love

Roots

• pop - people

Please........
Help out sociology by taking this survey. 


Let's finish up "Two Kinds" and J29.

We will begin Poe tomorrow.


No homework tonight. 

Monday, November 26 ~ Welcome Back!

EQ: How was Thanksgiving and your break?

Word Parts
Prefix

• macro - large
• mania - obsession

Suffix

• some - like, apt, tending to
• tude - state of, condition of

Root

• alt(us) - high or deep

Short Stories

Discuss the EQ: Why study short stories anyway?

• Short Story #1 ~ Two Kinds

Journal 29 

First, copy the SAT vocab:

• prodigy - child of highly unusual talent or genius
• lamented - said with regret or sorrow
• listlessly - without energy or interest
• discordant - clashing; not in harmony
• dawdled - wasted time; lingered
• stricken - heartbroken
• fiasco - total failure
• nonchalantly - without interest or concern

1) Meet the Author ~Write down 5-10 bullet point notes about the life of Amy Tan.
    *Start here .
2) List the internal and external conflicts in Two Kinds.
3) What makes this story engaging? List at least two strengths.
4) How would you describe the narrative style of this story? Is there power in the perspective that the author chose to use in her story telling?
5) What symbolic meaning is carried in the two songs at the end? How do they reflect the change that has occurred in Jing-mei?

Tuesday, November 13 ~ Movie Day!

Don't forget...

• All projects are due Thursday.
• Food items should be heated before class and served at the beginning of class. 
• If you are leaving early for break, make sure your project is turned in before. (It will earn a zero if no other arrangements are made before you leave.)

Monday, November 12 ~ Movie Day!

High School Bell Schedule
First	8:10 - 8:50	40 min
Second	8:55 - 9:35	40 min
Break	9:35 - 9:45	10 min
Third	9:50 - 10:30	40 min
Fourth	10:35 - 11:25	50 min*
Assembly	11:30 - 12:15	45 min
Lunch	12:15 - 1:05	50 min
Fifth	1:10 - 1:50	40 min
Sixth	1:55 - 2:35	40 min
Seventh	2:40 - 3:20	40 min

Go over Examsoft Word Parts Quiz #3 (Password: Gotit)

EQ: What project will you do on block day? Can anyone go on Wednesday?

Announcement: Movie Comparison Essay cancelled
Why? I can see from your Apartheid essays that we've mostly got the structure down.
Instead, let's turn this into a journal.
Journal 28: POO Movie

• Record 15 bullet points of differences between the novel and the movie.
• Write a 1/2 page assessment: Did the director, Arnon Milchan, make good choices in his changes tot he script? 

Movie time.

Block Day, November 12 ~ What project will you do?

Word Parts Quiz #3 on Examplify

• You should be able to review your scores immediately.
• We will review the questions on Monday in class.

Click here to view project options.

Movie Time: Take notes to prepare for the essay.

• Essay Prompt: The director of this movie took some pretty big liberties in translating the novel. Are the changes overall beneficial or harmful to the enjoyment of the story on screen? (Write a two page essay discussing specific changes and the effect of each in proving your thesis. Be sure to use a CAB thesis and TIED paragraph structure. References to events in the movie are fine; no quotes are necessary.) 
• Due Wednesday, November 14 (Please bring a hard copy to class. Sorry, I cannot print for you.)

Wednesday, November 7 ~ Word Parts Review

Word Parts Review (Quiz on block!)

• Roots Kahoot
• Prefixes Kahoot
• Suffixes Kahoot
• Quizlet

HW: Study!

Tuesday, November 6 ~ Grammar Quiz

Quick Review: Dangling Modifiers & Parallel Structure

Grammar Quiz on Examsoft


When you finish...

Journal 27: Write a 1/2 page reflection on the end of the novel answering the following questions.

• Why do you believe Courtenay ended the condensed edition with this chapter? What themeatic meaning can you draw from it? 
• What audience do you believe he was trying to appeal to with this novel? (How do you know from the text?) Consider the quote below:
• "Courtenay’s novel was published during the tail end of apartheid when most foreign governments were openly critical of South African stance on race, but Courtenay did not write this book as one more voice to condemn anyone in South Africa. His choice of a child protagonist is partially to present a first-person perspective of the racism Courtenay saw as a child without forcing judgement on the country" (Jopek).

HW: Word Parts Quiz on block. Study!

Monday, November 5 ~ Last Fishbowl!

HW: Study for the grammar quiz tomorrow (parallel structure and dangling modifiers).